Art is a Process!

You can't build without a starting point. For this project I really wanted a digital painting to put on my business cards but I also needed a way to identify it as me on the cards. Thus sprouted my idea. 

Most times I'll look up some references to make sure my proportions are right, but in this case it was a simple as taking a selfie.

It can be kinda scary to start adding color because suddenly it's real. It changes from "hey I can easily change this line" to "If I mess up this color, erasing it could lead to messing up something else." The best way I've found to counteract this is layers. They are lifesavers!

Next I try to add the majority of colors needed, which includes base color blocks like shown in the hair here.

At this point I have to get into the intense shading. My favorite method for this is to turn off my outline layer and see if I can still see where defining features fall.

I like to start by outlining so I can see where my colors are going to go. It helps get me in a space were the digital painting is allowed to emerge.

While this doesn't always happen, occasionally you just space out on including certain parts. For me this was the outline of my glasses. I didn't notice till I was finishing my eyes. Brain fog, amirite?

Sometimes you realize partway through that the colors are just not working for you. That gives you two options. Number one, redo it all by hand. This includes all shading that you already spent so long on. This is why I tend to choose option two. Color adjustment layers are a wonderful way to fix the colors without having to reshade everything.

Freckles (which I know are hard to see in the selfie but they are there), beauty marks, eyebrows, etc. are added to finish off the projects.  It's time consuming but entirely worth it.